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To document a cruise as an ordinary and necessary business expense for the IRS, your records need to be able to establish that the trip was directly related to active business, primarily for work, and not a vacation. Document this by maintaining a detailed log of daily business activities, keeping receipts for expenses, and attaching a statement of activities to your return.    You can deduct all of your travel expenses up to applicable limits if your trip was entirely business related. If your trip was primarily for business and, while at your business destination, you extended your stay for a vacation, made a personal side trip, or had other personal activities, you can deduct only your business-related travel expenses. These expenses include the travel costs of getting to and from your business destination and any business-related expenses at your business destination.   According to IRS Publication 463:   You can deduct up to $2,000 per year of your expenses of attending conventions, seminars, or similar meetings held on cruise ships. All ships that sail are considered cruise ships. You can deduct these expenses only if all of the following requirements are met. The convention, seminar, or meeting is directly related to the active conduct of your trade or business. The cruise ship is a vessel registered in the United States. All of the cruise ship’s ports of call are in the United States or in territories of the United States. You attach to your return a written statement signed by you that includes information about: The total days of the trip (not including the days of transportation to and from the cruise ship port), The number of hours each day that you devoted to scheduled business activities, and A program of the scheduled business activities of the meeting. You attach to your return a written statement signed by an officer of the organization or group sponsoring the meeting that includes: A schedule of the business activities of each day of the meeting, and The number of hours you attended the scheduled business activities.   Direct Relation: The cruise must be a convention, seminar, or meeting directly related to your business, not a vacation with light work.   See this TurboTax tips article for more information about deductible expenses for business travelers.   @Jwl27   

Once a tax return has been Accepted by the IRS or a State, TurboTax receives no further information concerning the tax return or the status of any tax refund.   If accepted by the IRS use the federal tax refund website to check the refund status - https://www.irs.gov/refunds   After the tax return has been Accepted by the IRS (meaning only that they received the return) it will be in the Processing mode until the tax refund has been Approved and then an Issue Date will be available on the IRS website.   Call the IRS: 1-800-829-1040 hours 7 AM - 7 PM local time Monday-Friday

Once your return is filed, TurboTax has no control over the processing or the timing when the IRS/State releases your refund.    The IRS states that most federal tax refunds are issued within 21 days of acceptance, however, some may take longer if they require additional review. Also, by law, the IRS cannot issue EITC or ACTC refunds before mid-February. This applies to your entire refund, not just the portion related to those specific credits.   Here are a few FAQs to help you track your refund: When will I get my federal tax refund? How do I track my state refund? Why does Where's My Refund say "approved" but TurboTax still says "accepted"? Why do some refunds take longer than others? What if my IRS refund is taking longer than 21 days?

See this for now to connect with a tax expert - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/expert-review/help/how-do-i-connect-with-a-tax-expert-in-turbotax-live/01/27282?search-action-id=625953816430&search-result-uid=27282

@sixer1127 After you completed entry of the SSA-1099 for the Social Security benefits received in 2025, there was a following screen asking you if you lived in any of the foreign countries listed.  If you selected Yes or skipped over this screen, the TurboTax program would not have calculated any taxes on your Social Security benefits entered on the Form 1040 Line 6a.  Resulting in a 0 being entered on Form 1040 Line 6b.

Once a tax return has been Accepted by the IRS or a State, TurboTax receives no further information concerning the tax return or the status of any tax refund.    Call the IRS: 1-800-829-1040 hours 7 AM - 7 PM local time Monday-Friday   Or you can contact your local IRS office.  See this IRS website for local IRS offices - http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-Your-Local-IRS-Office-1 or call 1-844-545-5640 to set up an appointment You may want to contact a Taxpayer Advocate in your area.  See this IRS website for Taxpayer Advocate - https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/ or call 1-877-777-4778

This was my first return collecting social security. My wife is still employed. Our adjusted gross income was $251,876, which made 85% of my SS benefits taxable. TTX did not recognize this, and placed "0" in box 6b. Received a letter from the IRS that I know owed them $969, instead of the rebate that TTX calculated. I have used TTX for many years and trusted it fully. K now better now!

Could it be for state?  Federal and State are completely separate.  At the end Turbo Tax shows you the NET combined federal and state.   But that is just for your own info.  You will get a refund and need to pay the full tax due.  You can't have a tax due deducted from the other refund.      Where does it say you owe $900?  Did you file  your return?  Did you get a letter from the IRS that they changed your return? Do you get Social Security? Was 1040 line 6b zero? A common reason could be the Foreign question. Go back through the Social Security questions. Right after you enter the SSA-1099 is a screen asking if you lived in a foreign place. People have been answering it wrong or skipping it. Answer should be No. And it is for each spouse if filing Joint. If the IRS adjusted your return for missing the taxable Social Security you do not need to amend for that. That's why it's a good reason before you file to check your return line by line with last year and you might have seen that the taxable Social Security on line 6b was missing if it was taxable before. Then you could have questioned it.  

Some information online would say that there is almost no scenario where cruises are tax deductible because they are easily seen as a personal trip in that they include entertainment, etc.  The IRS documentation is very confusing on this topic of cruises.  If you are a travel agent and your clients rely on first hand travel knowledge of your cruise research it seems like that should qualify, but I have seen conflicting guidance.  Can you elaborate on how you document your cruise as a necessary business expense?